Telephone answering device linking displayed data with recorded audio message

ABSTRACT

A telephone answering device (TAD) which includes a means of intelligently organizing voice messages, associated entered codes such as personal IDs and home telephone numbers, and information stored in the memory of the TAD. These codes or numbers are decoded by means of the caller entering DTMF signals into the telephone which are recognized, recorded and processed by the TAD. When processed with codes and personal information previously entered into the device&#39;s memory, the TAD displays the identity of the callers for each message, thus providing a menu of choices, i.e., a list of callers. This enables the user to access messages in a selective manner based on the identity of the caller. The need to listen to the actual voice messages to determine the caller&#39;s identity and the need to listen to the messages sequentially or chronologically is obviated, saving both time and effort. Additionally, because the voice message is also linked to pre-stored additional data in the data base, when hearing a message, one also can view relevant associated information, such as a fax number, etc., that might not have been left in the audio message but might be important. A remote access device is also provided that allows the user to retrieve and display the callers&#39; identities and select a message to be played back from a remote location.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/188,200, filed Mar.15, 1994, which is a continuation of our application Ser. No.07/881,949, filed May 12, 1992, which is now U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,236,issued Feb. 14, 1995, which is a continuation-in-part application of ourapplication Ser. No. 07/860,699, filed Mar. 31, 1992, which is now U.S.Pat. No. 5,283,818, issued Feb. 1, 1994.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for recording and recallingmessages received through telecommunication. More specifically, theinvention relates to a telephone answering device that displaysinformation about messages recorded within the device and providesselective access to those messages based on the displayed information.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most everyone is well acquainted with the standard telephone answeringmachine. Such a machine is hooked up to a telephone and by means of atape recorder device and magnetic tape, it records oral messages fromthe caller. While such a machine has the advantage of allowing the userto receive messages when he is not present and cannot answer the phone,it has several disadvantages:

(1) The owner of the machine must play back many minutes of taped voicemessages just to know who has called. (2) The owner can notintelligently search for a specific caller's recorded message. (3) Toretain a list for later callback after listening to messages, the ownermust either keep tape unerased, or must copy down the list with a penand paper. (4) The caller must speak his name, phone number, etc. intohis phone which is then transmitted through the phone system andrecorded on the answering machine on the other end of the line. Sincemany callers feel uncomfortable talking to machines, some callers don'tleave messages and merely hang up the phone. (5) An additionalinconvenience occurs when the user wishes to retrieve stored messages byphone. He must on occasion hang on the phone for many minutes for allrecorded voice messages to be played in their entirety and must copywith pen and paper in order to have a hard copy. This is not onlyinconvenient, but may be quite costly, particularly if the call toretrieve messages is a long distance call and the user is interested ina particular message that is preceded by a number of lengthy, lessinteresting, voice messages.

A partial solution to many off these disadvantages was offered by the"Telephone Electronic Answering Device" (TEAD) by the present inventors,disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,968, which is incorporated herein byreference. The TEAD is capable of receiving and storing messages such asthe callers' names and telephone numbers and times of receipt of suchmessages by converting dual tone-touch tone frequencies (DTMF) or rotarydial pulses, generated by the caller dialing his own phone number, intoproper digital data representing the caller's phone number andindicating the caller's name if pre-stored in memory by the user. Theentire pre-stored message could then be retrieved and displayed oncommand on a display provided on the TEAD or printed out to provide apermanent record.

The message stored by the TEAD, however, is limited. It only includesinformation pre-stored in its internal memory that is associated with acaller's phone number, or, in some instances, only the caller's numberand the time of day. It is known that in many environments, caller'swish to leave more information in their messages, such as the urgency ofthe call. In many cases, a return call is not necessary if a simpledescriptive message is left. With the TEAD, the user would have to callback the caller to get any such message in person, wasting time, effortand telephone line charges. The TEAD does provide some mechanism forleaving slightly more information by selecting from a limited menu ofmessages, such as "Urgent," but playing that menu for the caller takestime and the menu choices will only cover a very few limited choices ofthe messages that callers actually want to leave.

To retrieve messages over the phone, a similar TEAD can be used from aremote telephone. The user can call his own "base" TEAD and cause it tooutput the DTMF tones for all the received calls in rapid successionover the phone line. These Are received acoustically by the remote TEADand converted, as with the base TEAD, and displayed. Of course, thedisplayed messages have only the same limited information as the baseunit's display.

Also currently available are voice mail systems, which organize voicemessages according to the called party. Each stored message isassociated with one or more persons that are service members of thevoice mail system. Each voice message to a called party is thenorganized sequentially in chronological order as in the prior artsequential tape recording answering devices. These voice mail systemslack the ability to access a voice message selectively by name, sincethere is no way a user can determine the identity of any of the callerswithout listening to the messages.

It is also known that digital recording of voice messages can be used toreplace the magnetic tape, but again selective accessing of a particularindividual's messages in selective order is not possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a telephone answeringdevice ("TAD") that allows visual identification of callers' identitiesand selective access to their linked recorded voice messages.

It is a further object that the TAD provide a link between each recordedvoice message and personal information pre-stored in data base memoryrelated to that caller.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a TAD that displays alist of all caller's identities and that displays such list so that theuser may selectively access the voice message associated with a givencaller without having to listen to all preceding voice messages.

It is another object of the invention that visual identification of thecallers' identities and the ability to selectively access their linkedrecorded messages is possible remotely over the telephone lines.

In accordance with the objects of the invention, a telephone answeringdevice (TAD) is provided which includes a means of intelligentlyorganizing voice messages, associated entered codes such as personal IDsand home telephone numbers, and information stored in the memory of theTAD. These codes or numbers are decoded by means of the caller enteringDTMF signals into the telephone which are recognized, recorded andprocessed by the TAD. When processed with codes and personal informationpreviously entered into the device's memory, the TAD displays theidentity of the caller for each message, thus providing a menu ofchoices in the form of a list of the callers' names. This enables theuser to access individual messages in a selective manner based on theidentity of the caller. The need to listen to the actual voice messagesto determine the caller's identity and the need to listen to themessages sequentially or chronologically is obviated, saving time andeffort. Additionally, the voice message is also linked to pre-storedadditional data in the data base. Thus, when hearing a message, one alsocan view relevant associated information, such as a fax number,alternate phone number, etc., that might not have been left in the audiomessage but might be important.

A remote access device is also provided that allows the user to retrieveand display the callers' identities and select a message to be playedback from a remote location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages will become apparent to thoseskilled in the art upon reviewing the detailed description of thepreferred embodiments in conjunction with a review of the appendeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a telephone answering deviceaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the major functional circuitblocks and their connections of the TAD;

FIGS. 3A-3B is a flowchart illustrating the answer mode of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the record mode of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the DTMF decode routine of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a chart illustrating the contents of a first memory section ofthe invention;

FIG. 7 is a chart illustrating the contents of a second memory section;

FIG. 8 is a chart illustrating the contents of a third memory section;

FIG. 9 is an illustration of the display of the invention, listingreceived calls;

FIG. 10 is an illustration of the display recalling information linkedto one of the callers;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a typical operation of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 12 is a front view of a remote access device according to theinvention;

FIG. 13 is a side view of a remote access device;

FIG. 14 is a schematic of the components and their interconnections inthe remote access device according to the invention;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating operation of the remote accessdevice;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view of a modified telephone answering deviceincluding a remote access device;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a modified telephone answering devicewith the remote access device detached; and

FIGS. 18-19 are front views of a mobile telephone including a remoteaccess device according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates the front perspective view of a telephone answeringdevice (TAD) 25 according to the invention. The TAD preferably includesa standard telephone handset 30 having a microphone and speaker foraudio communication with a user. The remainder of the TAD preferablyincludes a display/touch screen 32 and various keys 34 used to activatefunctions of the TAD. Some of the keys 34a are arranged as a numerickeypad, similar to standard touch-tone telephones. This allows the TADto be used as a standard telephone, as well as providing access toalphanumeric input by the user. Another set of keys 34b below thenumeric keypad includes other standard telephone functions, such asflash, redial, mute and speaker, which allows audio communicationwithout the handset, as is known.

A third set of keys 34c are used for access to a stored database withinthe TAD that contains information about callers, as described more fullybelow. Inputting the information to the database is accomplishedsimilarly to the disclosure of the inventor's above-mentioned U.S. Pat.No. 4,304,968 or in any fashion known in the art. A fourth and fifth setof keys 34d,34e are used for accessing identification data aboutrecorded messages and then accessing and retrieving those messages. Akey 36 for recording the outgoing message of the TAD is included, as isa standard "on-off" key 38. All of these keys 34a-e,36,38 and theirfunctions are described more fully below with respect to the preferredembodiment. Of course, other arrangements of keys and input devices arecontemplated by the invention.

The display/touch screen 32 is shown in a state when several messageshave been received and recorded by the TAD. The display preferablyindicates the identity 40 and phone number 42 of the callers whorecorded the messages, the identity information preferably beingretrieved from the database as described more fully below. Throughactuation .of the touch screen 32 or keys 34d,34e, it is possible toplayback any of the voice messages left by the displayed callers, in anysequence, and to perform other functions, such as automatically dialingthe particular caller's number to return the call, as described morefully below.

By creating an internal link between the recorded voice message andstored digital database data, an intelligent organized voice/datamessage (IOVDM) is formed that can be displayed with alphanumericinformation, played back as analog recorded voice, processed in adatabase, etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates the block diagram of the circuit elements comprisingan embodiment of the present invention.

The microcontroller 1 is preferably a 68HC11, manufactured by MotorolaSemiconductor. The microcontroller internally is comprised of memory 2containing RAM memory and EPROM memory circuits that are known to thoseskilled in the art. The RAM memory functions as read/write memory usedfor storing data and temporary system status events of themicrocontroller. In the present invention, the RAM memory of themicrocontroller 1 is also used for the storage of telephone numbers,names, user identification codes, other information about callers, andvoice messages. Similarly, the EPROM memory stores the programinstructions for the control and operation of the microcontroller. Thesecircuit elements are organized and connected in a data/address andcontrol circuit bus structure 20, the general structure of which isknown in the art.

The display controller 3 is a known circuit that converts data andcontrol signals from the microcontroller unit into video signals thatproduce character and graphic information on the display unit 4. Thedisplay controller 3 is preferably a circuit comprising the Signetics2670, 2672 and 2673 CRT controller integrated circuit set. The displaycontroller 3 drives the display unit 4 to produce visual display outputwith character and/or graphic indicia to be presented to the user.

The display unit 4 is overlaid with a touch screen 5, such as thatavailable from Microtouch, Wilmington, Mass. The touch screen 5 is aninput device that presents an X-Y positional coordinate pair to themicrocontroller 1 indicating the position touched on the screen 5.Through the use of software within the microcontroller memory, ,thetouch screen is positionally mapped onto the underlying indicia,allowing the user to select or indicate information and functionsdisplayed on the display unit 4.

The speech recorder/playback and DTMF transceiver circuit 6 ispreferably comprised of the DS2271DK speech recorder/playback boardmanufactured by Dallas Semiconductor, Dallas, Tex. Illustrated in FIG. 2is the microphone input 7 and the speaker output 8 interfaced to thespeech recorder/playback circuit 6 which enables the user to record andplayback voice messages.

The function of the voice record/playback circuit 6 is to record voicemessages into and from the memory 2, and to later play back these voicemessages. Other functions of the circuit 6 include DTMF decoding, linestatus determination and DTMF generation. The messages are recordedeither through the microphone unit 7, which is intended for therecording of the outgoing message, or through the data accessarrangement circuit (DAA) 10 that interfaces tip and ring lines to astandard RJ11 jack 11, which is preferably connected to a line on thepublic telephone network. The voice playback function provides an outputvoice signal either through the speaker 8 or through the DAA 10connected to the telephone line. The DAA 10 is preferably the CH1840manufactured by Cermetek Microelectronic Company, Sunnyvale, Calif.

The DAA 10 also provides a signal indicating the incoming ring signalstatus to the microcontroller 1 via wire connection 25 as illustrated.After a preprogrammed number of ring signals, which may be adjustable,the TAD answers the call by providing a signal on line 26 to the DAA 10,which causes the DAA 10 to put the telephone line in the off-hook state,thereby causing the TAD to answer the call.

Voice signals are transmitted to and from the telephone line through theRJ11 connector 11 and pass through the DAA 10 to the voicerecorder/playback circuit on RCV and XMIT1 lines. Voice signals are inanalog form when inputted to the voice recorder/playback circuit 6. Asillustrated, these connections RCV and XMIT1 are capacitively coupledbetween the DAA 10 and the voice recorder/playback circuit. The voicesignal is preferably digitized and stored in the voice memory section ofthe memory 2 by means of the recorder/playback circuit 6, although otherstorage means, such as analog memory circuits, are possible.

The microcontroller 1 controls the functioning of the voice/playbackcircuit such as with PLAY, RECORD, ERASE, and STOP signals along withthe signals corresponding to message numbers.

The PLAY, RECORD, ERASE, and STOP signals to the recorder/playbackcircuit 6 are received from the microcontroller via the output bus 13 asillustrated. These control functions are activated by means of themicrocontroller toggling pins connected to bus 13, and selecting thedesired message number through an output port on the microcontroller 1via the bus connection 14 as illustrated.

The DTMF signals received from the telephone network are decoded as isknown by the voice recorder/playback circuit 6. Through the samecircuit, the energy level on the telephone line can be detected,indicating to the microcontroller if there is voice signals on the line(varying energy level), DTMF signals (steady, known energy levels), or adial tone or silence on the line (steady high or low energy level). Thedetermination of the status of the line, in conjunction with the usersetup mode provides input to the decision of the next machine operation,as will be illustrated.

System Operation

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the answer program mode of thepresent invention, in which the TAD loops and checks for an incomingcall on the telephone line or for the user to activate a key.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the TAD first determines if the user haspressed a key on the TAD (Decision block 100). This is done by means ofthe microcontroller reading its RS232 serial data port connected to thetouch screen 5 through connection 20 to determine if the screen has beentouched. The microcontroller 1 is also connected to and monitors theother keys 34a-e on the TAD. If an X-Y .coordinate pair is read and theparameters of the X-Y pair map onto the boundaries of a known key, atrue key has been depressed and the microcontroller 1 calls the usermode routine (block 101).

If no key has been pressed, the system next tests if a ring signal isavailable (block 110). If a ring signal is available, determined byreading the state of the DAA 10, the microcontroller then proceeds toblock 120 in which it reads the variable stored in memory indicating thenumber of rings to wait before answering the incoming call (INC). Themicrocontroller then preferably multiplies this number by 6 (a standardring is 2 seconds with a 4 second silence gap) and counts down thatnumber of seconds before answering.

As illustrated, during this delay, the microcontroller checks every 6seconds to determine if the ringing has stopped. If no ring is present,this indicates that the caller hung up. The microcontroller would thenreturn to block 100. If the timer successfully counts down, the systemprogresses into the outgoing message state (block 150).

The microcontroller causes the DAA to create an off-hook state and thencauses the voice/recorder playback circuit 6 to transmit thepre-recorded outgoing message (OGM) through the DAA to the telephoneline. The OGM is preferably stored as message #1 in memory 2. Asdescribed below, the OGM includes instructions for the caller to enter ahome phone number or other caller identifying information.

When the playing of the OGM is completed, the microcontroller preferablywaits 5 seconds (block 160). This 5 second grace period preventsmalfunction of the TAD due silence by the natural pause or hesitation ofa caller before or during enunciation of a message. At block 170, themicrocontroller determines if voice or DTMF signals are beingtransmitted. The microcontroller can distinguish three states during acall--voice signals, DTMF signals, or dial tone/silence--by reading thelevel and modulation of the signals on the telephone line. The DS2271DKvoice recorder/playback unit can distinguish between the tones of DTMFsignals and the signal level ranges associated with human speechdetected on the telephone line. If voice signals are detected, themicrocontroller immediately executes the voice record routine. If novoice is present on the line, but DTMF signals are being transmitted,the microcontroller executes the DTMF decode routine.

If, however, there is dial tone/silence on the telephone line for 5seconds, the microcontroller causes the DAA to go into the on-hook mode(block 240), which hangs up the phone and terminates the call. The TADnow returns to its initial state in the answer mode routine of loopingand checking for a user key touch-and waiting for a ring signal.

The process for determining line silence, voice energy or DTMF signalingis illustrated in blocks 180, 190 and 200. If block 190 is true (voiceenergy levels present), program execution follows to block 220, therecord routine. If, however, there is a DTMF tone present, executionfollows to block 230, the DTMF decode routine.

Block 220, the record function, is illustrated in FIG. 4 and begins withthe allocation of voice memory and data memory at block 300. Thisfunction increments a memory variable stored in EPROM that points to thenext memory position allocated in the voice memory and data memorystored in memory circuit 2. This process is a preferred way to helporganize the data and voice memory and link them together. Memoryorganization of the TAD is described more fully below.

At block 310, the voice message memory is accessed. The record functionis then executed and voice recorder/playback circuit begins digitizingthe analog voice and stores this data sequentially in the voice memory2. The record function is now in process and operating as a paralleltask to the task of determining the line status. At block 320, data isthen analyzed at block 330 (is there a dial tone). If this test isfalse, the block 340 (is there a DTMF tone) is executed.

If both these blocks (330 and 340) generate a false, then control islooped back to block 320, input signal levels, and allows the voicerecord routine to continue. This looping back will compensate formomentary silence or gaps in the voice message. If block 330 is true,i.e., there is a dial tone, then the voice recording routine is stoppedat block 350 and the telephone line is put on-hook at block 370. The TADthen returns to answer mode (shown in FIG. 3) at block 390.

If block 340 is true, which means there is a DTMF signal, the recordroutine is stopped at block 360 and block 380 calls the DTMF decoderoutine shown in FIG. 5. This routine decodes the DTMF signals keyedinto the telephone by the caller and stores the code in memory of theTAD and links it to the voice memory if a voice message is recorded.

Operation is transferred to the DTMF decode routine when a DTMF signalis sensed on the telephone line, the routine begins at block 400(allocate voice and data memory). This process sets up data memory forreceiving the DTMF signaling and links the data memory to voice messagememory if a voice message has already been recorded. If a voice messagehas not yet been recorded it allocates an available message number incase a voice message is left later. This allows the system to beflexible and will allow the caller to key in a DTMF I.D. code anytimeduring the message sequence.

Control proceeds to block 410 to read the levels of the telephone line.At block 420, the microcontroller determines if there is still a DTMFsignal on the line.

If block 420 is true, control is looped back to input block 410. Thisinput and test loop continues until the DTMF signal stops indicatingeither the standard silent interval between DTMF digits or perhaps thatthe DTMF signaling has been completed and a voice message has beeninitiated. If decision block 420 generates a false, it is determined atblock 430 if a voice signal is present. If a voice signal is present,block 440 passes control back to the record function routine of FIG. 4.

If no voice signal is on the line, block 430 generates a false, andcontrol passes to block 450 in which it is determined if silence or adial tone is present on the line. Silence indicates an inter-digitsilence and control passes to block 470, which stores the decoded DTMFdigit and passes control back to block 410 to read the next DTMF digit.

If, however, there is dial tone on the line, indicating that the callerhas disconnected, block 450 instead passes control to block 460, whichputs the TAD in the on-hook mode and proceeds to block 480. Block 480passes control to the answer mode routine of FIG. 3. Now, the TAD isready for a new incoming call or for the user to activate a key functionby pressing the touch screen.

Memory Organization

The memory circuit block 2 (FIG. 2) connected to the microcontroller 1as further illustrated in FIGS. 6,7 and 8 is the storage means where theuser options, commands, data and voice messages are stored and interactwith the microcontroller unit 1 and the voice record/playback circuit 6in order to accomplish the features as taught in the present invention.

The data entered by the user for the functioning of the presentinvention includes textual names of the callers as they would appear onthe display 4, for example, "Sid Ceaser," as well as user'sidentification code, i.e., 497-6201, and additional related data. Thisdata is stored in the memory and organized by the database portion ofthe programming in memory section 1 illustrated in FIG. 6. The addressor relative position of this data in the memory section can change asnew names are entered or deleted as controlled and organized by databasefunctions in the microcontroller.

The recorded messages which are entered by the caller can be composedeither of 1 or 2 parts, a digital data part and a digitized analog part.The first part, which is the digital data portion, is composed of thedata acquired by the DTMF decoding function as illustrated in theflowchart of FIG. 4 and is stored as binary numbers in memory section 2as illustrated in FIG. 7. As explained, this digital data, which iscomposed of the translated code as entered by the caller from DTMFkeypad, preferably also contains an address link byte to the voicemessage if the user had also recorded a voice message along with thisdata message.

The voice message memory as required by the voice record/playbackcircuit 6 is a separate section of the memory, i.e. memory section 3 asillustrated in FIG. 8.

The voice recorder/playback circuit 6 preferably digitizes andcompresses the voice message and presents it to the microcontrollerwhich stores it in a specific format in a separate section (section 3)of memory. The format is preferably composed of 128 byte speech recordsof which each voice message is composed of an integral number ofrecords. The first byte of each record contains a number specifyingwhich message number it is part of. The valid message numbers arepreferably 1 to 254 although more, of course, are possible. Therefore, apreferred maximum of 253 incoming messages exists with message 1 beingthe OGM. The message number in the record is used to link to the digitaldata message which contains the same message number.

Therefore, as explained, there are three sections of memory which can belinked together by the database program function to form an intelligentorganized voice/data message (IOVDM) as taught in the present invention,

These memory sections are:

Memory Section 1) The database entry by the user of the names with theassociated data, such as telephone number and address, and the caller'sI.D. which could be the caller's home or business telephone number orany unique code. (FIG. 6)

Memory Section 2) The message memory containing caller entered I.D. codedata and linked message numbers. (FIG. 7)

Memory Section 3) The message memory containing voice message datarecorded by the caller. (FIG. 8)

A message as recorded by the caller can be composed of any of thefollowing types:

1) A voice message alone.

2) A data message alone as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,968 by theinventors of the present invention.

3) A voice message as described in (1) linked to a data message asdescribed in (2) that are linked together into an intelligent organizedvoice data message (IOVDM) as taught by the present invention.

The linking together of these separate data memory and voice memoryelements in an IOVDM is performed by the database function and displayedon the display. To perform this linking, a reserved byte of memoryattached to the data message is stored which indicates the voice messagenumber it is linked to. The database program code then searches thedatabase entry section in which the user entered the data such as name,address and phone number. If a match is found between these, theinformation is presented to the user as an IOVDM.

Other ways of linking the voice messages and data messages are possible.In one alternate configuration, each data message precedes itscorresponding voice message in contiguous memory bytes.

Example of Operation

For proper functioning of the TAD, it is preferred that databaseinformation, such as names, phone numbers and address, personal and/orbusiness reference notes, etc. is entered by the user. Using keys 34cfor accessing the database, information, such as "Regis Lamb" and hisassociated phone number "431-9762" plus other additional information maybe entered. As seen in FIG. 6, several telephone numbers can be storedfor an individual. Preferably, they would be coded, for example, .withan "O", "H", "M" or other letters, signifying "office", "home","mobile", etc. The database can have as many entries as the user desiresand the specific memory size will allow. The user preferably alsorecords the OGM, which would preferably include instructions for thecaller to enter his home phone number or caller identifying number on atouch tone phone and then to record a voice message.

It is to be understood that any incoming signals over the telephone linewith a voice message that is recognizable by the TAD and is generallyunique to the caller may be used instead of DTMF tones.

The unit is then left in the answer mode. Upon receiving a call(detecting rings), the TAD puts the telephone line in an off-hook state(Block 500, FIG. 11) and plays the outgoing message to the caller (Block510).

If, for example, Regis Lamb were the fourth caller since the messageswere last cleared, he would enter his home phone number, as requested bythe OGM (Block 520). The microcontroller records the decoded identifyinginformation in memory section 2, along with the available messagenumber, in this case "5", as shown in FIG. 7. The microcontroller thensearches all of the phone numbers stored in the database and matches thereceived phone number to the stored data record and recalls Mr. Lamb'sfor display as message 4 (Block 530). This is shown on the exampledisplay in FIG. 9. The microcontroller also records Mr. Lamb's voicemessage as message number 5 (FIG. 8), linking that voice message withthe recalled data record through the list in memory section 2.

Later, the user would come home and press, for example, the "Display NewMessages" key to see a list of the messages as shown in FIG. 9. Bypressing on Mr. Lamb's name on the touch screen or the correspondingkeypad number, only the fourth message would be played back from theproper location in memory, avoiding having to hear any other unwantedmessages (block 540, 550). Simultaneously, the entire data recordmatching Mr. Lamb could also be displayed on the display while the voicemessage is being played back (Block 560), as shown in FIG. 10.

By merely pressing, "Return Call," the microprocessor would retrieve thephone number from the data record and produce the DTMF tones on thetelephone line to dial Mr. Lamb. If more than one phone number appearson Mr. Lamb's data display, the touch screen or corresponding keypadnumber could be used to select and then dial any of the numbers (Block570, 580).

If a caller does not enter any identifying code during the phone call,the TAD will display "No ID" or another message in place of the caller'sname on the display list.

Remote Access

Messages stored in the TAD can be accessed from a remote telephone byusing a portable remote access device (RAD) 55, which is hand held andnot directly interfaced to a phone, and in which the same list oftelephone numbers and names have preferably been stored as in the user'sbase TAD.

The preferred embodiment of the RAD 55 is shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, inwhich it can be seen that the RAD includes a display 4', selection keys34' and a telephone coupler 60, such as an acoustic coupler or aninduction coil coupler. The internal components of the RAD are shown inFIG. 14, including the coupler 60 connected to a microcontroller 1'. Themicrocontroller 1' also receives input from the selection keys 34', asdescribed in more detail below. Memory circuits 2' are also includedthat are similar to those described above in the TAD, except there ispreferably no memory section reserved for recorded voice messages,significantly decreasing the memory requirements. The display 4' anddisplay controller 3' are similar to those described above. There ispreferably no touch screen in the RAD, although it is contemplated thatit could be used similarly.

The preferred remote operation using the RAD 55 is shown schematicallyin FIG. 15. The user first dials the telephone number (block 600) of thephone connected to the base TAD, whether it be a home or other number,and waits for the base TAD to pick up and play the OGM as describedabove. The user then preferably dials a code (block 610), for instance"1-1-1-1," on the phone. The audio signal generated by his dialing isreceived by the base TAD through the telephone line and converted by themicroprocessor 1 into digital information, as discussed above. Thisparticular code instructs the microprocessor 1 of the base TAD to feedout in rapid succession all the stored phone numbers from memory section2 as the appropriate touch-tone frequencies (block 620), and outputsthese frequencies through the telephone line to the phone the user isdialing from. The user places the hand-held RAD on the phone receiverand, via the telephone-coupler 60, the DTMF tones outputted by the baseTAD are received into the microprocessor 1' of the RAD 55 and convertedinto digital form. In this manner, the identifying phone numbers of allthe callers stored in the base TAD are quickly transferred to the RAD 55via the telephone line. The microprocessor 1' then preferably matchesthe received phone numbers with its internal database (block 630) anddisplays the list of names and numbers of the callers (see FIG. 12), asdescribed above with respect to the TAD. Alternatively, in accordancewith another embodiment of the invention, if there is no stored databasewithin the RAD, the phone numbers alone are displayed.

Next to the names and/or numbers of the callers, the RAD displays alinking code that corresponds to message numbers, as can be seen in FIG.12. This alerts the user to and specifies the linked recorded voicemessages stored in the base TAD. It is also contemplated that thelinking code might not be directly displayed, but would insteaddetermine the order of display for the names, thus indicating thelinking code for each message. The linking code is preferablytransmitted indirectly by the base TAD via the order in which the DTMFphone numbers are sent to the RAD 55, i.e., the order itself beingrepresentative of the linking code.

At this point, the user may now select the message or messages that hewants to hear from the displayed list. For example, if he chooses tohear Mark Brenner's message first, he would merely press the number 4 onthe telephone (block 640). The base TAD receives the DTMF signal, decodeit, and proceed to playback voice message number 4 (block 650). Othermessages may be played back by pressing other message numbers on thetelephone. When the user is finished listening to the message, he caneither press a code, such as "#" to cause the base TAD to hang up, orhang up the telephone he has been using. The TAD is preferably equippedwith a timer that causes it to hang up after a predetermined period ofsilence during the message retrieval function. It is also contemplatedthat the linking codes could be completely internal to the RAD and notdisplayed. The user selects the voice message to be played back with theselection keys 34', using the displayed list of names as a menu. The RADthen outputs appropriate DTMF signals to the base TAD to cause it toplayback the voice message. The link between the voice message and thedisplayed names could also be completely within the base TAD. Then, forexample, the RAD could transmit entire DTMF phone numbers back to thebase TAD after the user selects a particular displayed name or number.The base TAD would then play back the voice message linked to the phonenumber. In any case, it is important that the RAD or the user be able tocommunicate with the base TAD to select which voice messages it is toplayback and the sequence of such playback.

After hearing the messages, the user may wish to return the call of oneor several of the callers. Since the RAD is preferably pre-stored with acomplete database of names and phone numbers, a particular caller on thelist could be selected with the arrow keys 34a' and the entire datarecord retrieved with the select button 34b'. A particular number in therecord could then be similarly highlighted. By pressing the selectbutton 34b' again, while holding the RAD to the microphone of thetelephone, the RAD performs as an auto-dialer, outputting the DTMFfrequencies for the selected number. Other features, such as credit cardcalling, could also be incorporated into the RAD.

Since the RAD is separate from the base TAD, it is possible that thedatabases may not always be completely identical. For example, if aphone number is transmitted by the TAD to the RAD, the name of a callermatching that number might not be stored. In this case, the RAD simplydisplays the phone number on the screen, allowing for the possibilitythat the number might be recognized by the user.

It is also contemplated that the features and components of the RADcould be incorporated into existing pocket databank organizers that areknown. The database for the RAD system could be shared with the otherorganizer functions.

In an alternate embodiment, the RAD 55' could be a detachable part of amodified base TAD 64 as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. When mounted in theTAD 64, the RAD 55' is electrically connected to the TAD 64 and servesas the display and database for the TAD 64. When the RAD 55' is removedfor mobile use as shown in FIG. 17, the modified base TAD 64 is onlyleft with components sufficient to allow it to pick up the phone, playthe OGM, record voice messages, decode and store DTMF signals, and linkthe DTMF signals to the voice messages. Through the linking codes in theRAD, the link between the caller's identity and the voice messages couldbe entirely within the RAD, such as if the linking code corresponded tothe stored voice message number. Additionally, the modified TAD 64 hasprogramming to allow it to interface with the RAD 55 or 55' as describedabove. Communication between a RAD and the modified TAD 64 would beidentical to communication with a full-feature TAD. However, thismodified base TAD 64 has no display once the RAD 55' is removed, nor aduplicate database to that stored in the RAD, and thus could notfunction identically to the preferred stand-alone TAD. This combinationof a modified TAD and RAD would be a less expensive alternative to afull-function TAD and a separate RAD. The modified TAD 64 preferablyincludes other keys for inputting database information, etc., althoughthese are shown covered with cover 68.

In FIG. 18, a modified mobile telephone 80, such as a cellular phone, isshown, which has a RAD incorporated within. The RAD functions asmentioned above, except the connection between the RAD and the remotetelephone (now the cellular phone) is electrical and the selectionbuttons may be shared between them. Additionally, the telephone isconstructed with a larger display 82 than is conventional to allow forthe display of caller identities. In this construction, the voicemessage transmitted by the base unit may be heard over the cellulartelephone simultaneously with display of the additional information forthe caller in question. Additionally, the mobile telephone could beprogrammed such that, through actuation of a single function key, thetelephone would call the base TAD, establish a telephone connection, andautomatically interact with the base TAD to retrieve the callers'identities for the stored messages.

As seen in FIG. 19, the display 82 may also be used to displayadditional information for a selected caller. Then, through selection ofa displayed phone number, the cellular telephone automatically dials thenumber and provides a telephone connection.

Of course, several RADs could be used to access a single TAD, althoughpreferably not simultaneously.

While the embodiments shown and described are fully capable of achievingthe objects of the invention, it is to be understood that theseembodiments are shown only for the purpose of illustration and not forthe purpose of limitation.

What is claimed is
 1. A telephone answering device coupled to atelephone line for automatically answering incoming telephone calls andstoring and retrieving information from the incoming telephone calls,comprising:means for receiving caller identifying information from saidtelephone line identifying the caller of an incoming call; means forreceiving a voice message from said caller and storing said voicemessage; means for linking said caller identifying information with thecorresponding voice message; means for displaying the caller identifyinginformation for each of the incoming calls; and means for selecting anyone of the displayed caller identifying information and audibly directlyretrieving the voice message linked to the selected caller identifyinginformation without scrolling through individual stored voice messages.